Endless Night
by TheEndxTypeANIME
Summary: Memories are the base of all human life. They are the ties to the soul, what connects us to time itself, what marks our existence in our own minds as well as the existence of those around us. Remembering that we are human is truly what makes us human.
1. Chapter 1

Memories are the base of all human life. Remembering that we are human is truly what makes us human.

"_They say these woods are alive. That the people who go in are consumed by darkness and never come out. They say the people are swallowed by an endless night and forget everything about this world, then they disappear with the morning's light." _

"Even in the middle of the day the forest is so dark. Its almost impossible to see past the first row of trees…" The mushi master examined the woods from a safe distance, not knowing what dangers lurked within it's depths. "There's certainly something intriguing about these woods.." he pulled the cigarette from his mouth and slowly blew the smoke past his lips. He wasn't exactly sure what to do at this point. His experience with strange things gave him enough sense not to just rush in… at least without any knowledge of the situation.

There were many rumors circulating about these woods. Rumors that would peak any mushi master's interest.(though it could annoy any mushi master as well.)

People disappearing for no reason was quite common in this line of work… stories like this weren't uncommon but even at this point it could be any number of things. the number of mushi in the world are as countless as the number of any other type of plant and animal type...

He wasn't even sure that the cause of all this was even mushi…though it seemed highly likely that it was…there was really no way to be sure at this point

"Ginko?"

The mushi master then noticed that he shared the path with an old man. The man was in his seventies, carrying a large amount of wood on his back. He continued to glance at the mushi master's gleaming white hair and single green eye.

"Do you know me?"

The man seemed taken aback by his question.

"How could I forget! It's not everyday people come wndering out of those woods."

"These woods…"

Ginko's gaze drifted to the treetops as he silently recalled his first memory. The earliest memory he possessed of an endless night spreading in all directions.

"so this is the place…"


	2. Chapter 2

"It was about a year ago the first child went missing, He went into the woods and never came back out…" the old man poured tea into a small cup and handed it to Ginko "The boy was from a near by village. They sent out a team of men to find him, but they all disappeared too."

Ginko held the cup to his lips "Have there been any other instances in which people have gone missing in those woods?"

"There are stories about a village over the mountain who lost a group of hunters in these woods … but that was long before this latest incident… The only person whose ever come out of there is you…"

---

"I guess I can understand why a child would be lured into these woods…" Ginko thought to himself as he stood before the first line of trees. "To a child these woods would appear to hold mystery and adventure, where as to an adult they appear to hold only danger… and to a Mushi master they hold uncertainty"

Ginko places another cigarette in his mouth and lit it while he contemplated his next move.

"Rushing in would be risky and unwise, but I won't learn anything by just standing here… It could be an undiscovered species…."

He stood in silence before the woods for about an hour still unsure of what to do. He looked deeply into the depth of the dark trees hoping they would reveal some lingering secret.

It was his job to explain the unexplainable and explore the unknown… it was his job, and so he stepped past the first line of trees.


	3. Chapter 3

The forest's think foliage was bewildering. The vast sea of green made it impossible to tell where he had come from or where he was going. The sun offered little to no aid, as the trees prevented any slither of light to penetrate the canopy.

"I can see how someone would become lost…"

There where no features that distinguished one tree from another, every turn seemed the same. But he must have been making some sort of progress, as the trees were starting to lessen and the flow of mushi began to increase.

"How peculiar…" Ginko sighed. He pressed on, following the small specs of light. "It's defiantly some sort of mushi…. But I've never seen an organism this small" he continued to asses the strange species until, finally, he reached the end of the trail.

It was a small pond, or something that had been a pond before it became the home to a strange creature. It's surface glimmered softly, but not from the sun's light. The shine was a self-produced wonder.

The mushi master crouched down to get a closer look. The water wasn't the strange thing , but it's contents held a series of mysteries. There was a large number of mushi that lingered around the area, but the pond was devoid of any animal life and the shadows; the shadows seemed to be alive.

Ginko picked up a near by stick and proceeded to jab the water's surface.

"STOP IT! You'll make it mad!" a frail voice called out.

Ginko turned to find a small boy dressed as a hunter. The tips of his hair were stained white and his opened eye was a faded green.

"… It?" he inquired

"The shadows…"


End file.
